Unseen
by Seras0Victoria
Summary: Hanzo Shimada's past continues to catch up with him. A childhood friend enters the picture and challenges many things he has believed about life and about himself. He discovers the part of him that he shut down so long ago. Maybe some lemon and definitely some fluff.
1. Chapter 1

"Unseen: Prelude"

Hanzo Shimada sank slowly into the steaming waters of the Myoushin Temple baths. Among the many temples he had patronized over the years all over Honshuu, he found the replenishing waters here most favorable. He was alone in the night with only shafts of moonlight peering in through a few square, open windows; the beams interrupted by the uneven vertical slats. Nothing but the soft , chiming echoes of falling water droplets could be heard in between the light, sloshing sounds made by his intermittent movement. He laid his head back on the small, folded towel he had placed there and closed his eyes. Moments like this were few and far between for him, so he relished it all the more.

His body felt heavier as he relaxed in the wide, wooden tub. His muscles were unwinding and the soreness he had felt for the past few days seemed to be evaporating like so much steam. Moving around as much as he did these days, there wasn't much comfort to be afforded him. If he wasn't fighting, he was constantly training, never allowing his body or mind to be unprepared. After a few days, he would move to another location, another temple. Someone was always looking for him, he knew...remnants of his past trying to catch him unaware. He wanted nothing to do with it. But there were times when he sought after it, albeit unwillingly. It was only a short time ago that he returned to Hanamura once more; to his home, to remember once again. To atone. But that which he thought was lost had found him instead. Genji had appeared before his very eyes. At least someone who sounded like his brother, but contorted and invaded by metal. Hanzo had looked straight into his eyes as Genji's visor raised and helm lowered. It was him, unmistakably. He'd recognize his brother's eyes anywhere. After all, they had followed him, haunted him, ever since that day; the day he thought he put his brother down and his own life, in a way, had also ended.

 _What has become of you...my brother?_ he thought to himself and sighed. His mind slowly headed in the direction he least wanted but knew he couldn't help but go: Had his actions ultimately made his brother into the creature he was now? The blood on his hands that he had tried to wash away over the years seemed to be doubly staining. As he let out his breath, he felt that familiar tingling at the base of his neck. A presence somewhere. Had Genji come to him again? How would their reunion play out this time?

He opened his eyes and slowly raised his head, his neck and jaw line stiffening in the process. The intruder already knew Hanzo's location, no need to be stealthy, he thought. Unabashedly, he stood up in the tub, the water sliding off his taut frame and cooling his skin where it left him. He grabbed his robe. Regardless of how comfortable he felt in any given place, his bow and quiver would never be more than an arm's length away. This occasion was no different. He casually tied his robe on and reached for his weapon.

"Make yourself known," said Hanzo, into the night, in nothing louder than a calm, conversational manner.

There was no response. Though his eyes had adjusted well to the darkness by now, there wasn't much to see but the jet-black shadows that hung about the hallway and the adjacent room beyond, which could be seen through the open shoji doors.

"Then I will make you known," he said under his breath and quickly fired off a sonic arrow, landing in the center of the adjacent room.

There, in the far corner, a hooded figure was revealed, crouched and unmoving. Once an assassin's position was found out, they would usually attempt to escape or the attack would soon follow. But this figure continued to sit still, staring forward.

"Lucky," came a low voice from the corner.

At those words, Hanzo knocked another arrow and drew it in a blink. The stillness of the stranger unnerved him in other ways than would any hired killers that had been sent after him previously.

"My actions are not determined by luck," countered Hanzo, arrow still steadily drawn, "Now, tell me who you are."

"I meant lucky for me, not for you."

"Enough!" he cried as he let the arrow loose.

Just as immediately, a brilliant yellow light surged out and encircled the stranger. Hanzo's arrow hit the domed wall of light, pinged off, and fell to the ground. The light faded. Hanzo had followed the flight of his arrow as soon as he released it and by the time it had clattered onto the mat, he was point-blank pointing another arrow in the stranger's face. It did not escape his notice that the hooded figure had clasped the Pyo Kuji-in when the shield appeared. This was not unfamiliar to Hanzo. In their youth, both he and his brother learned the ways of meditation and energy flow through the use of these hand seals, with Genji progressing further with it in his ninja training. But he had never seen it used for this purpose.

"I mean you no harm," said the stranger, this time in a lighter voice.

"Take off your hood," he replied, straight and serious.

"You are still so demanding, Hanzo-kun."

No one had called him that in what seemed like decades. For just a moment his breath caught in his throat but his bow's aim didn't waver. His mind quickly searched through his memories and found the image of a young child under a tree, facing away, standing in his family's private courtyard; her long black hair swaying in the light breeze.

"Can it be that you remember...?" she asked, surprised, as she slowly pushed the hood of her robe back and off of her head, letting it softly fall and rest on her shoulders.

She clasped her hands again into another seal and from her chest a diffused, soft light emerged to illuminate her. Long hair, white as snow, was tied back in a braid, her lightly tanned face turned up to look at Hanzo fully, and her eyes, those eyes...how could he ever forget them? They were at once beautiful and terrifying.

"Rin...?" he found himself saying, almost inaudibly.

She smiled. "You do remember."


	2. Chapter 2

**"The First Child"**

From the eaves above him, a fuurin swayed lightly in the summer breeze and gave off its playful, delicate chime. Hanzo sat, awaiting the call of his father from the main hall. His parents were meeting with the leaders of the Yukimura clan that day for the same reason that countless other clans were streaming into their compound for the past few weeks since Hanzo's 14th birthday. All the clans in the land, at least the ones of any worth or clout were vying for favor from the Shimada clan, the most powerful in all of Japan. They best way to do this, short of declaring a feud, would be to marry their daughters into the family. And so, Hanzo had spent these precious days meeting with other families and their often frightened daughters to make arrangements for the future. There would be a betrothal now and clans would be married once Hanzo officially took over for his father. These meetings were just a formality and he dreaded every false moment of it. Ultimately, Hanzo's father would decide who would be the best match for his sons and most advantageous for the Shimada clan. In a few years, on Genji's own 14th birthday, his little brother would have to go through this ordeal, too. For Hanzo, being the eldest son, however, carried with it the weight of the future and success of his clan so he had to have a bride to match in wealth and connection. If it was within his power, he hoped Genji could be spared the machinations of it all.

Rather than being in the dojo practicing with Genji or in the tactical room, learning more about strategy and warfare from his uncles, here he was sitting cross-legged and cross-armed, in his formal presentation regalia, listening to the wind bell above. He just wanted it to be over but there was no telling when the line of suitors would end. Suddenly he caught something in the corner of his eye. A flash of black. He immediately sprang from his seat.

"Who are you? What are you doing in my garden?" he said, commanding an answer.

"Is this YOUR garden?" a small, clear voice asked in return.

A young girl peered at him from around the plum tree she was hiding behind. Her long black hair was loose about her back and was what gave her away, though the rest of her would have been hidden quite well behind the trunk of the tree. Her heart-shaped face was pale and her smile cheerful as she spoke. But it was her eyes that struck him most and he suddenly felt apprehensive as he stared. Her dark pupils were greatly dilated and her irises...they were a clouded, swirling gray. She didn't seem to be looking AT him, though; more through him.

"Yes, this is MY garden so tell me who you are before..."

"Hanzo-kun, I presume. You are so demanding." she interrupted.

He was aghast. No one had ever spoke to him so casually before, especially before being properly introduced.

"How dare you speak to me in such a way?" he responded, finally tearing his gaze away from her strange eyes and looking at her fully.

"Don't you think it's fitting that I should come and see who my sister is meant to marry? I am concerned about her welfare, is all," the offending stranger reasoned. "I need to see that her intended is worthy of her."

"And who is your sister?" he asked, almost amused.

"Keiko. Keiko Yukimura," she answered.

"Yukimura?" Hanzo asked aloud but mostly to himself. It was indeed the clan his parents were currently meeting with in the main hall. "You lie. The Yukimura clan has only one daughter of age; everyone knows that. So who does that make you?"

"I'm her eldest sister, Rin. By two years, in fact, which makes me a year older than even you, Hanzo-kun. I will always be her older sister, no matter what my father says. I will protect her even if I am just a ghost to him!" she replied, her smile leaving her at those last words.

He stared at her as she stood there in her defiance of him and seemingly of her own father. What a perplexing thing to say. But he did admire her protectiveness over her sister. Now that he was able to see her completely, he noticed she was not wearing a kimono displaying her status or house crest. She wore a simple white gi and blue dress underneath. Though her hair was loose, half was tied back in a pony-tail. She was clean, groomed, and carried herself well, as gentry would.

"Why should I believe you?" he asked, sincerely.

"You don't have to. It only matters that I know who I am, as does my sister. Do you plan to make her happy?"

"Do *I* plan..." he trailed off and genuinely chuckled. "I don't think you understand the true nature of this arrangement, if there even is one."

"You'd be blessed by the gods to have a chance to marry her," Rin corrected.

"Is that so?" he asked, fairly diverted for once in a long while. "But if you're the eldest daughter, why aren't you being presented instead of Keiko, " he interrogated. As he moved closer to her, he noticed that, even as he changed the distance between them, her gaze remained the same: unfocused and over his shoulder. It was then that he finally realized...

"You're blind," he said, flatly.

"What a revelation," she replied.

Hanzo wasn't about to let her get away with being so insufferable when he heard his father calling for him.

"You. Wait here, we're not done yet," he instructed as he turned to go to the meeting.

Rin sniffed but remained still.

In the main hall, around the center mat, the Shimada and Yukimura family were sitting, facing one another. Small tables were set before them with tea and delicate foods. His father nodded at him when he arrived and he quickly turned to closed the shoji doors behind him. Hanzo took his place at his father's right and kneeled. He was introduced to the Yukimura family, one by one until finally, he was made acquainted with Keiko, who knelt there quietly, with her eyes cast down.

From what Hanzo could tell, there was indeed a resemblance between Keiko and the girl he had just met outside. But Keiko somehow seemed frail, even sickly. Her face, though small and pretty also seemed gaunt; without a natural luster underneath the cosmetics. He thought he even caught her slightly sway while sitting, as if she were struggling to hold herself up. Perhaps the many layers of dress and fabric were weighing too heavily on her.

Finally, the formalities ended and he was excused to return to his quarters until he was called again. As expected, Rin was still there, waiting behind the plum tree trunk.

She perked up when she heard him walking toward her.

"Isn't Keiko pretty?" inquired Rin, as she looked toward the main hall. "I helped her choose her presentation dress this morning."

"Oh? And what does her dress look like, if I may ask?" said Hanzo, wryly.

Rin's lips turned up to one side. "You think I wouldn't know what my sister's favored dress would be? I could tell in her voice which one she liked most as I presented them to her one by one. I didn't have to see it...but she told me it was orange and green with a Koi pattern."

"Fair enough," he responded, clasping his hands behind his back, much like his father did when choosing to banter. "To answer your question, yes, your sister is quite pretty. But has she been ill lately?"

Rin's face returned to neutral and her lips set into a thin line. "She is getting better now. It wasn't anything serious. You'd be a fool to deny her."

"I'll remember that. And when will you get your turn at this game?" asked Hanzo, curious.

"I won't. I don't exist."


	3. Chapter 3

**Divided Paths Part 1**

Hanzo slowly lowered his bow and loosened his grip, the arrow now hanging limp between his fingers. He continued to stare, trying to formulate the words that would not align with his thoughts. Rin waited patiently, curious herself as to what his reaction would be.

"But The Clan Wars. Your family...I thought you were all dead," he said, finally, almost in a trance.

"They are. The Yukimuras are no more. Except for me. I, of all people, ended up being saved," she replied.

Hanzo set his weapon down and slid his quiver off onto the mat. Kneeling down to her eye level, he searched her face. She was still as lovely as he remembered her; a face that had been frozen in time from the last moments he had seen her. She was 18 years old when they met at the ravine, near the Yukimura house, as was their usual place. She didn't have much freedom to roam but he did, so he had no issue with traveling to see her every few months. Though their meetings were brief, they spoke of their family life, politics, the endless ebb and flow of pleasing their elders, and doing things they were expected to do in their roles. She would listen to Hanzo's concerns, whether it was about his ability to lead the Shimadas in the shadow of his father or about his younger brother's growing rebelliousness. He listened as she told of her worry over Keiko and how her parents tried to keep them apart. Somehow, every day, Keiko always managed to sneak away enough to play with Rin or, at the very least, hold her hands briefly before being called after. During these meetings, Hanzo was just a young man, trying to figure out how to live his life without disappointing those he loved and she was just a young girl, wanting the best for her sister. They would part, respectfully bowing and saying formal farewells, perhaps longer than necessarily.

But suddenly, she stopped coming. He had no way to ask about her. He wasn't supposed to know of her existence and she made him swear to keep it that way for her sake and her family's. He honored that secret. But one day, her father came to visit the Shimada compound without anyone else in tow. When Hanzo queried his father about the visit, the only response he got was that Keiko had become increasingly sick over the years and had recently, sadly, succumbed to her illness; that the Yukimuras were no longer in contention for a position by their side as family.

Hanzo remembered being concerned for Rin. She was so protective over her sister. Surely this would devastate her. He waited for their next meeting at the ravine but, once again, she did not join him. Even as he vowed to keep her secret, he decided that talking about it with her own family would not be breaking that promise. After all, she was their own.

However, he was shocked to find that Rin's own father denied her. As much as he was honored that the eldest son of the Shimada clan came to call upon him for a meeting, he was still in mourning over Keiko's death and his inquiry over another daughter was baffling. Hanzo noticed him glancing over at Rin's mother, sitting to the side, still wearing white; her face marked with the effects of grief and sorrow. But he saw something else there in her countenance besides sadness. There was anger in the corners of her eyes and her pursed lips trembled with it. Hanzo was asked to please allow them to observe their daughter's passing and mourn their loss. He could not ask further.

He returned home with more questions than answers. Where was Rin? Why was there such a crushing air of secrecy in that room where he had met with her parents? Days passed into months, months to years. After several seasons, he gave up on going to the ravine. He gave up on ever seeing Rin again. She had disappeared as if she had never existed at all, just as she had once said.

But here she was now. Over 20 years later. Like a ghost from his memories.

"What happened to you?" he asked quietly, after a long perusal of her face. "I waited for you to come."

"It is one of the heaviest pains I've carried with me, not being able to say goodbye to you. But I was sent away. Before I even knew what was happening; before I could try to think of how to tell you, I was sent away from my home. In moments, I was in a ship. What I remember was the wailing of my mother and the sight of the household servants restraining her as she tried to reach me. Strangers told me where to go but not where I was going. I was told that if I tried to return on my own, my family would suffer, especially my sister. I would only find out years later that she had already died. She died the day I was sent away."

"I do not understand," said Hanzo, "I spoke with your father. When you did not come to our meeting place several times, I sought out his counsel. I did not know where else to go but to your family. He disavowed any knowledge of you. To my face."

"To him, it was true. I was not his daughter. For how could someone of his own blood bring such sorrow and pain to his family? I believe it was only the strength of my mother and the insistence of my sister that allowed me to stay there that long. I was always treated well, though I was never able to befriend anyone for much time. People came and went; my teachers seemed to change every week. The only consistent thing in my life was my sister. Her kind soul would not allow her to leave me alone for any long period of time."

"Why did all of this...?" he began.

"Because I killed her, you see."

Before he could ask, she continued.

"I did not know I had caused it all. I did not know that it was I who was making my sister ill. I had been from the very start. And that every time she was with me, I was killing my beloved slowly," said Rin. "It is something I have had to realize and accept. I cannot say I've been successful in doing so."

Rin released her seal and allowed her hands to fall to her lap. The aura that had enveloped her slowly receded and extinguished itself.

Hanzo stood slowly and looked down upon her crown for some time. Rin remained motionless, staring straight ahead. This night would be long and it had only just begun. He walked over to the center of the room and picked up the candle that was at the head of his bedding. He was always partial to the light of a fire and the softness of the forgiving flame seemed necessary at this moment. After lighting it, he brought it over to where Rin was now sitting. He sat closely, in front of her, the candle between them. The illumination reached her chin and gradually faded into dimness from there.

"Tell me," he said simply, but the concern in his voice was evident.


	4. Chapter 4

**Divided Paths Part 2**

Rin took a deep breath.

"Did you know," she began," that since the beginning of written records, the Yukimura clan has traditionally borne twins almost every generation?."

"No. From what my father told me, your clan has borne very strong offspring but only a single child every line," he replied.

"Twins were always born but only one child ever survived. By the time it mattered, it was only necessary to announce one child. It is our family's curse. Twins would be born, but as the days wore on, one would become strong and robust, while the other became languid and withered. No pair ever made it to their 100th day; only one. I overheard my father call it "Seishin no Kapparai." The Spirit Thief. I didn't know what he was talking about until much later."

"I learned that my birth was different. Being an only child, my parents believed they had broken the curse and were happy for a time. I was a perfectly healthy baby. The only thing was that people would often become ill or weak after being around me for a prolonged amount of time. I wasn't aware of it but my parents were always concerned due to our history. I didn't see my mother or father very often but they did come visit my housing area every now and then. It was separate from the main compound. I had many teachers and was happy to learn from them but I never saw the same ones very often."

"When I was 6, I learned that I had a baby sister. One of the servants whispered about it in the commons while they thought I was asleep. I was so excited that I ran to the main compound immediately. I barged in and woke up my parents. My sister was only 4 years old at the time. I just wanted to see her. But I was taken away by the chambermaids. I saw my sister in my parents room, just for a second; she had been sleeping there. Her eyes were wide and locked onto mine. I remember my father was furious, my mother in tears. I wasn't sure was happening but the next day, I was told never to go back there."

"For the first time, my house felt like a prison. I plied the servants for information. Some of them felt sympathy for me and would feed me some bits of information that I craved. They were only morsels but, to me, who knew nothing, it was a feast. I learned her name was Keiko, when she was born, her favorite color, her favorite food, animal, things she disliked. After several months of this, I managed to sneak out during the night. I made a yellow paper giraffe for Keiko, knowing she liked both things. My child-weight hardly made a sound as I crept on the tatami mats. When I reached my parents room, I approached her and placed the paper giraffe in her tiny palm and closed it. I took that chance to look at her face in the moonlight shade. She was utterly beautiful and I loved her immediately. As I brushed her hair away from her face, she awoke, but she wasn't startled. She just stared at me. Maybe she saw our resemblance, maybe she saw how much joy she brought me, or maybe she realized she wasn't alone either. I gestured at her hand, kissed her forehead, and left. I hoped that she would be able to read my small note inside the paper giraffe one day soon."

Rin stopped talking for a few moments. Hanzo noticed that her shoulders lost their strength and she was enclosing herself slowly.

"Are you well? Do you need to rest?" he inquired, as he leaned in and lightly placed two fingers on her knee.

Rin bent her head slightly to the side and smiled. "You used to do that when we were together at the ravine."

Hanzo didn't realize it until she pointed it out. He had done it without thinking. As youths, when they used to sit across from each other and talk, he would lightly touch her shoulder or knee to let her know they should find a better place to sit, or to reassure her and let her know he was listening. It was his way of giving her eye contact of a sort. She used to smile each time. The same, sincere smile she had just given him now.

"This is the first time I've ever spoken to anyone about this. It's a long story but I feel it's only fair that you are the first to hear. After all, you had always been there for me and I suddenly abandoned you without a word."

"It was not of your own doing. Perhaps, I should not have so easily given up on searching for you," he replied, trying to think back on what recourse was left him when she had disappeared.

"How could you know that my own father sent me away? So far away," she said.

"Where?" he asked.

"You will soon know. After that first meeting with Keiko, I didn't dare to sneak out for a while. I was afraid that if I were caught, I'd risk never seeing her again. Even though I didn't know why we were being kept separated, I knew that there was a serious effort being made to do so. Six months later, I gathered enough courage and went out again with another note in an origami animal, this time a green bird. It wasn't until I was 9 years old that one of the sympathetic servants came to me with a note from Keiko. She wanted to meet with me and had set a time and place. I wasn't going to miss it for the world."

"And you were able to do so?" asked Hanzo.

"Yes, and it was wonderful. We met behind the large grove tree in the small courtyard behind the main complex and my housing. Keiko said it was a cloudy night so even the moon afforded little light as if it were in confederation with our plans. We held hands and talked well into the night and early morning before we parted and promised to meet again. We were two strangers getting to know each other but there was already so much affection there, Hanzo-kun."

"We did this almost every month for over two summers. But one night, she didn't come to meet me. I was worried and asked about her the next morning. My sister had become ill and could not rise from her bed. My mother came to me soon after and asked me if I had seen her. I, of course, denied it. A few months later, I received another origami note from Keiko through her servant. She was feeling better and wanted to meet again. This cycle continued on. Almost every year after that, Keiko became ill. But she always recovered, it seemed. When she turned 13, she began to prepare for her presentation day. To you. I was barred from being near her but I followed the caravan anyway."

"I remember," said Hanzo, "that I did not believe you were a Yukimura. Or that you had walked all the way from your small mountain following behind them. You were already too brash as a little girl, Rin."

"Perhaps I was. But then I would never have met you," she replied.

Hanzo nodded.

"Early that morning, I sneaked into my sister's room and pulled out all of her choices to wear that day so that by the time her attendants showed up, she would already have a kimono in mind. I so desperately wanted to be a part of her special day, any way I could. Most of our household's servants were either preparing her or preparing the caravan so I was able to get back to my house, change into something comfortable, and just tell others I would be in the mountains, exploring and sketching my own maps. They often left me alone to do at least. Later I would give this same reason to be able to come and meet with you. It would be hours until they searched for me."

"And that's when I caught you hiding behind the plum tree," said Hanzo.

"Yes."

"Rin, I know you told me during our meetings that you were able to sense physical things around you. That you could feel them and it gave you a certain kind of sight to be able to move around on your own. That was how you were able to sneak around all those years and even follow your sister to my castle. Does this have anything to do with why you disappeared?"

"Yes, Hanzo-kun," she said, nodding slowly. "I am not only able to feel the energy in things but, without knowing, I was also stealing it away. I AM the Seishin no Kapparai my father spoke of. Because I was so selfish, I slowly drained my sister of her life force. Every time I saw her, touched her, she was becoming less and I was becoming more. It didn't matter that we were not twins; our curse was still being carried out. When she stayed away from me, she did heal for a time, but she was always less than before. And finally, she was not able to come back from it. The day she died, I heard my father's cry of anguish all the way from the main house. It made my hair stand on end. I heard him almost burst through my doors as I tried to piece together what had happened to my sister. He was yelling, calling me the Spirit Thief, saying I had killed Keiko. He had me taken to our air palanquin immediately. The chambermaid threw a bundle together for me and I was tossed inside within minutes. I could hear my mother wailing and clawing to get to me through the servants but I was already speeding away. To where, I didn't know. It would be the last time I heard my mother or set foot in my home. And I kept thinking, 'But how do I tell Hanzo-kun that I am the Spirit Thief...?'

Then, Rin slowly raised her arms and reached out to touch Hanzo's face.


	5. Chapter 5

**Convergence**

Hanzo remained still as a stone as Rin's hands neared his face.

She stopped just inches away.

"May I?"

He let out a low note of affirmation.

"Aren't you afraid of me?" she whispered.

"You have given me no reason to be," he replied, steadily.

Rin leaned in closer and lightly placed her fingertips along the sides of his face. She brushed his stray lock of hair aside and, starting high with her thumbs, traced his forehead. Dropping them lower, she followed the high bridge of his nose, down. Finally, she cupped his face gently and traced his cheekbones, committing the planes and valleys to memory.

Hanzo watched her closely as she physically perused his face. For the first time since he met her in his garden all those years ago, this was the first time they had had any real contact. He had made sure to keep his decorum with her at all times. It was his duty and honor to protect her innocence back then. She wasn't like other women he was exposed to in his youth. When he came of age, his father made sure his son knew the pleasures women could bring and provided a stream of them to Hanzo and his men whenever they desired. So he was no stranger to the touch of a woman. But on those occasions he could meet with Rin, their reunions would always be immaculate, he made sure of it.

And now, she was sitting so close to him, touching his face so gingerly, almost longingly, as if to make up for all those years lost.

"Rin..." said Hanzo, softly.

A smile slowly spread across her face as she traced the facial hair around his chin and mouth.

"You really have become a man," she said in response to them, lowering her hands back down to her lap. "It's difficult to leap from my mind's image of you when we were youths to who you are now. I always thought it was unfair that you could see my face but I couldn't see yours. I wasn't born blind but by the time I had met you, I was already as I am now. So many times, I wished I could see the sunrise again as I did when I was a young child. I wished I could lay my eyes just one more time upon the turning leaves of Autumn. Things slowly disappeared from me that I could only hold onto in my memory. But of all the things I wished I could see just once, what I wanted most was to behold your face; to match your voice to your being."

"If I had known that was your wish, I would have granted it, gladly," Hanzo replied, as his chest tightened from realizing her longing as well as his own.

"But I could not ask it of you. For as long as I could remember, no one would touch me. At least, not directly. So I began to understand that perhaps there was something about me that was not quite right. So I could not ask such a thing of you, Hanzo-kun. Even my mother, who always spoke lovingly to me, never came too close. It was always through the doors or the next room. Only my sister was brave enough to hold my hand or embrace me. She did so recklessly and without a thought. I had not the heart to deny her and I was too selfish to push her away. I welcomed her warmth and I thrived off of it...at her own peril."

Hanzo reached across and lightly touched two fingers atop her shoulder as he used to do. She looked up from having stared down at her lap. Then he placed his entire hand there and gently squeezed.

"Your only fault is in desiring that which we all need."

"Can you forgive me?" she asked him, her words catching in her throat.

"There is nothing to forgive."

Rin let out a long breath, one that she seemed like she had been holding for years, and bowed her head once again.

"And for this, you have sought me out? After all this time?" asked Hanzo.

"For many reasons," she responded.

Hanzo released his soft hold on her shoulder and slid his hand down the length of her sleeve, trying to offer comfort. Rin reached for his hand and held it.

"When we were young," she began, "I could never offer you help or the peace you deserved. Your body and mind seemed always at war with yourself and your family's...work. I could only sit and listen as you spoke of the expectations that were being placed upon you and your obligation to fulfill your responsibilities dutifully and perfectly."

"Having you there to listen was peace enough. It was the only time I could tell someone of my doubts and not feel I was betraying my father or my clan. Your acceptance was invaluable to me," he said, sincerely. "There was no more you could have done for me."

"Maybe not so then. But I can now," she replied.

"I don't understand..." said, Hanzo.

As he trailed off, Rin covered his hand in hers. Closing her eyes, she began to breathe more deeply. He felt his hand become warm when she suddenly let go and clasped her hands in the Toh Kuji-in formation. An orb of light began to form in the center of Rin's chest. The orb continued to grow and envelope both of them. Within the light, Hanzo felt an energy flow through and around him, calming his heartbeat and thoughts. His breaths became slow and deep. He thought his ears became almost muted until he started to hear the night breeze lightly rustle leaves outside and the myriad noises made by the small birds and insects. Hanzo closed his eyes and focused on the energy coursing through his body. It was as if he were standing amidst a flight of a thousand white butterflies as they fluttered in and around him-unsettling at first but then exhilarating and other-worldly. They had a fragrance akin to lilies and their wings made the sound of a babbling brook of clear, fresh water running over stone. There was a tingling in his very blood and all of his muscles felt relaxed and strengthened all at once.

The white butterflies flitted about him and he was, to his surprise, in delight. After what seemed like hours, one by one, they flew away, into the night sky, until they became the very stars. The stars began to shine brightly until they merged into a massive bright light. He realized he had opened his eyes and the light was emanating from around him only, and not Rin. It began to shrink until it became a small orb again but, this time, it disappeared into the center of Hanzo's chest, instead of Rin's, from where it had originally come.

He felt as grounded and calm as he had ever been in his life; his head seemingly uncluttered by the day's worries. He wanted to sleep for 20 years but was also invigorated enough to run up and down the mountains all night.

"What did you do, Rin?" he asked, amazed.

Rin's eyes were still closed. Her hands fell away from the Toh Kuji-in clasp and her body began to slump.

Rin?" he cried, grasping her shoulders, catching her from falling forward into him.

She roused from her stupor immediately.

"Maybe that was too much and too long," she said finally, steadying herself and smiling up at him.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yes, I am fine. Maybe I was a bit too weary to begin with," she explained.

What was that?" he asked her, making sure she was able to sit upright on her own.

"It's what I've been learning and practicing for the past 20 years, she replied.

"How...?

"Remember I told you I was sent away?"

Hanzo nodded.

"My father had sent me to the Himalayas...to live at the Shambali Monastery."

Hanzo's expression slowly contorted to one of disbelief.

Rin continued, "He sent me away to the Omnic monks."


	6. Chapter 6

**Convergence Part 2**

"He sent me away to the Omnic monks; to the Shambali," stated Rin.

Hanzo was silent as the words sank in. He closed his eyes and breathed out sharply through his nose.

"What did those things do to you?" he asked, finally. As he spoke, he reached out and caressed a lock of her almost pure white hair that had fallen in front of her eyes. "Did THIS happen because of them?"

He tucked the stray hair back behind her ear and Rin took his hand in hers once more.

"Please understand, they did nothing but shelter me and help me. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them."

"What is this 'help' they offered? What did they want from you?" Hanzo demanded.

"Why do you distrust them so?" Rin asked.

"Why do I...? Because they have rained destruction down upon us all. Even after their defeat, they pretend to be what they are not. In this way they attempt to weave their existence among us in hopes to try once again to overthrow their Masters. The question is, how can YOU trust them?" Hanzo replied, almost feverishly, as visions of his brother, his brother of flesh and blood, flashed in his mind.

"Because while my family discarded me, they accepted me. They showed me compassion. And to be compassionate is to be human," Rin said, gently.

"Do not be fooled, Rin. They are no more human than you are machine."

"Is that how you see your brother, then? As a machine?" she asked, hastily.

Hanzo slowly straightened his posture where he had been leaning in before. Pulling his hand away from hers, he now sat ramrod straight before Rin; his face expressionless and hard as stone.

"I'm sorry, Hanzo-kun, I did not mean to speak of him so carelessly. I didn't come here to..."

"Then why did you come here? And how can you speak of my brother?" Hanzo interrupted.

"He cares for you deeply and wishes to be by your side once more," she said, noticing the rising tension in the room.

At that, Hanzo quickly stood up in place and towered over Rin. "How can you know such a thing?!" he cried, feeling the heat rise to his face and the swell of shame beginning to coil in the heart of him. "You don't know what I've done!"

"But I do, Hanzo-kun," Rin replied flatly, slowly rising to her feet, looking up at him all the way.

Hanzo's face dropped and his breathing was audible. His past actions were damnable; but one he would have to come to terms with on his own. But to know that Rin was also privy to his great shame, the burden became doubly immense and it stabbed at him.

"Then you know that my hands are stained with the blood of my own brother. That I left him for dead and did not look back," he stated, matter-of-factly. " This is the man I've become."

Rin slowly took a small step forward, leaving only a small space between them.

"That is not the man I see before me now," she countered. "I see turmoil and brokenness; a darkness swirling like the skies over a raging sea. But I also see a great sadness and a longing for forgiveness...for peace."

Hanzo closed his eyes and turned his face upwards, exasperated, his fists clenching at his sides. Then he felt Rin place her head softly under his chin and his eyes flew open. With the last words she had spoken, she stepped fully into the space that was left between them. Resting her head against his chest, she brought up her hands and placed them on top of his shoulders, holding on.

"You have wandered for so long, searching for that peace," she spoke into the open neck of his robe. "But it has already been granted. You need only accept it."

He felt warmth, once again, emanating from Rin and fusing with his own. It was different from before but just as invigorating. His hands relaxed. Raising his arms, he enfolded her into his embrace, gathering her small frame into himself closely and reveling in her nearness. He buried his face into her hair, smelling a bit of earth, cherries, and the fragrance of incense. He couldn't remember the last time he held someone with such desperation and need, or if he ever had. Holding her now, he began to feel some of his oldest regrets start to peel away.

Rin leaned back from their embrace even has Hanzo still tightly clutched her to him at the waist. She raised one hand to his face, brushing his cheek with her thumb. Leaning back in and raising herself on her toes slightly, she bent her head to the side and light kissed Hanzo's neck. He tasted of honey and spring water.

"Rin..." he nearly groaned. Without thinking, he placed one hand on the back of her neck and kept her in place, urging her to continue.

"I never stopped thinking of you," he whispered, closing his eyes at the sensation of her butterfly kisses upon him, his knees becoming weaker by the moment. His hand becoming entangled in her hair, ruining her tightly braided plait at the base of her neck.

Hanzo pulled back and looked down into her stormy grey eyes. Even in the low light, he could see they were glistening with unshed tears. He brought his face down to hers, her soft lips were so close.

"For years, I feared you had perished in The Clan Wars," said Rin. "But then when I heard news that the Shimada clan had been destroyed, I couldn't accept that I had lost you forever. My heart shattered that day for all the things I never said to you."

"It was the same fear I had for you," admitted Hanzo. "But somehow, by the heavens, you are here."

"Once I found out you were still alive, I left immediately to find you," Rin said, as she calmed her racing heartbeat.

"How did you find this place?" he murmured, genuinely curious.

"Genji-kun told me.

_A/N: Sorry it's so short this time. This chapter was the hardest to write and it took me much longer than I anticipated. I needed to stop at a decent place. There may be spelling/grammar errors because I didn't have time to check. I'll do better next time. Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

Duty Part 1

"You have seen...him?" asked Hanzo, gravely, his demeanor noticeably changing.

"As much as one like me can see someone," replied Rin, trying to tread lightly. She could already feel Hanzo's Ki begin to roil within him.

His large hands closed around her upper arms which were resting at her sides. She didn't have to be able to read energy to understand the intensity coming from his grip.

"When? When did you see him?" he asked, quietly.

"It was about a year ago."

"Did he tell you anything?"

"He told me everything."

Hanzo loosed his hold on Rin and tried to gauge her. The dying flicker of candlelight playing across her face could not hold long enough in one place to piece her expression together into a whole. He angled away from her and walked to the back of the room, where Rin had once been crouching hours ago. The chirping of crickets stopped immediately at the noise of wood sliding upon wood as he opened the shoji doors. It was as if the night held silent for this moment of his judgment day. He expected it would be one of many.

"Don't you want to know what he said?" Rin asked, without moving, her back to him.

"I was there, Rin. The actions I took will never be forgotten. I don't need them recounted to me," he answered, as he raised his head to the moon. The sky was cloudless and the moon seemed to be glaring back at him, unabashedly shedding light on his transgressions for all to see. For Rin to see.

"I put duty above my own flesh and blood," he continued. "My anger and sense of honor led me to commit an unnatural act. After that, what meaning of duty and honor could remain?"

"And so you left," she stated.

"Yes. There was nothing there for me. My duty to the clan ended with my brother's life. And whatever I had been raised to be ceased to exist the moment I cut him down. My father was gone. My duty, finished. When it was over, I remember the sound my katana made as it fell away from my hands, there, in the Great Hall. The dull peal of it as it hit the floor still echoes in my mind. I swore never to pick up another sword again.

"What happened to Genji then?" she asked softly.

"I was given a great responsibility: A commission - To maintain the power of our clan, to reassert our strength without a wrinkle of weakness in the fabric of our ranks. But Genji refused to be seen as a liability. And with his refusal to reform, I saw in him the downfall of all our father, and our father's father, had worked for. In my anger, I had put my hands on him. He, naturally, defended himself. Swords were unsheathed and words were exchanged that could never be taken back," Hanzo recounted and took a moment, as if to remember those words, like falling daggers.

"When it was over, we both were wounded. But my blade, full of rage, cut deeper. As he lay there, unmoving, I looked down at his broken body. My brother. His blood spilling on the floor in front of our family's shrine. I dropped my katana and knelt down beside him, cradling his limp body to me. His youthful face bruised and battered; I could barely recognize him. I called to him to again and again. But my uncles, who had been looking on, came and took him away. 'It is done' they said to me. They left me there, kneeling in his blood. Where they laid him to rest, I would never know."

"Hanzo-kun..." said Rin, plaintively, turning around.

"I looked around the Great Hall then;" Hanzo continued, freeing himself of this memory for the first time, "The names of my ancestors and our family's crest proudly displayed on the high walls. Tapestries hung about to extol their success. Generations of Shimadas. This was now my imparted empire. And I felt nothing. So much power, rightfully bestowed upon me. But, without my brother, I was lost. I stood from where I last embraced him and walked away, never to return to the Shimada clan again."

Hanzo felt her approach him before he could see her. She stood to his right, and, without looking at him, reached over and took his hand in hers. They stood silently for a moment, framed by the doorway.

"Soon after you left was when the Clan Wars began?" she inquired.

"Yes. When word spread that the Shimadas were without heirs, there was a clamoring for power that lasted several years. The clans warred with one another, each weakening more and more from the in-fighting. By the end, it was easy for them to be dismantled by outsiders. The families were either killed or dispersed underground into fractious pieces that could never yield authority again. How fitting that the son who swore to uphold the ways of the Clans was the one who started the downfall of all the families, including yours..."

"You may have started the fateful stone from rolling down the hill but it was your brother's hand that directed the final destruction. He finished what you began," Rin informed him.

"Then this would be the first time he has ever followed in my footsteps," said Hanzo. He was both bemused and curious.

"These eight years of your wandering, not knowing what had become of him, I can now reveal all to you. At last, I ask again, do you want to know what he has told me?"

He thought back to a few nights ago, when Genji had shown himself. Hanzo had never felt such elation and dread at once. His brother was alive! There was no mistaking those eyes. And the dragons obeyed his command. And yet, there he stood before Hanzo in cold metal and soulless sheen. He spoke of forgiveness and a changing world. But all Hanzo could do was go back to the shrine and pay his respects to the brother he once knew. The only one he cared about. The one who had died. Which Genji was Rin speaking of; which Genji spoke words to her that she so wanted to relay to him now?

"Yes," he finally said. "Tell me."


	8. Chapter 8

Ch 8: Duty Part 2

It was hard to miss him as he stood out among the other omnics in both appearance and behavior. The first time she had ever met Genji Shimada, he was already in his enhanced and augmented form. After her early morning meditation, she began her usual course of chores around the monastery. She found them to also be meditative in their own way. She was able to use that time to hone her abilities to focus her mind, whether it was sweeping the steps and courtyard, wiping the floors, or cooking herself meals.

It was during her sweeping that she saw him. She never heard his footfalls upon the stone steps leading up to the monastery; only the approach of a strange energy the likes of which she'd never experienced before. Rin was used to sensing the heat and sounds emitted by omnics; after all, she had been living among them for a few years now. She had even become adept enough to read their individual signatures. But this Ki was so different...and yet, familiar.

She slowly stood upright from the bend of sweeping and looked in his direction, grasping the broom against her chest. She could tell he was only a few feet away from her and had stopped moving. Perhaps he was just as curious to see her there as she was of him. He could not have expected to see a human living with the Shambali.

At last she spoke and asked, "Who are you?"

"That is the question I wish to be able to answer," he answered, cryptically.

His voice was human but also, something else, somehow...filtered. And in his reply, a piece of sadness was lodged.

"And you...?" he continued.

"I'm merely a student here," she said.

"Then, may I ask you to take me to your teacher?"

"Follow me, please," she replied, without hesitation. She had come to trust in her ability to assess people by their energy and, though this one was quite unique, she had no fear of him or for him.

For months following that day, Rin encountered him many more times at the monastery, though not directly. Tekhartha had taken to spending several hours a day with him. As for her, she continued her studies with Zenyatta, her mentor. Between her education and practice, they would often talk about the new student and she found that Zenyatta had a particular curiosity about him as well.

"I hope I can have a chance to talk with him," asserted Rin one day.

"This one believes it will be good for both of you to do so," he told her.

Such an occasion presented itself when she had set about to scrub the floors of the kitchen. This room was a place she used almost exclusively so she wanted to make sure she was the one to take responsibility over keeping it tidy. Again she sensed him before she heard him enter. She stood up and brushed herself off.

"Is there something I can get for you?" she asked.

"I...was looking for some tea," he replied. "I wasn't certain it would be something stocked in such a place."

"Ah, yes, understandable. They've allowed me some small comforts even though I've been the only person here who can drink it...until now," she said, smiling.

"I see."

"If you'd like, I will make a fresh pot for both of us. Do sit down," she said as she gestured to the small adjoining room.

"Then, I will leave it in your capable hands," he said.

"Hai, douzo!" she said, with a slight bow, her native tongue slipping out from enthusiasm. She couldn't remember the last time she had shared a pot of tea with anyone. She really couldn't.

Genji froze for a moment before continuing into the room. He sat down in the center, cross-legged.

After several minutes of getting the water to the proper temperature, preparing the leaves, and arranging the tray, she brought out the pot and cups on a small table. Placing it in front of the waiting Genji, she sat down opposite from him. He was silent.

"These are special leaves grown locally, " Rin explained, as she poured his cup first. "The villagers at the bottom of the mountain are kind enough to bring some to me every harvest. It's not the same as home, but it's very fine."

She handed him his cup, then poured her own.

"And where is that?" Genji asked.

"The village? It's not far from the foothills. It's on the other side from where you came."

"No, not the village. Where is your home?" he asked, still holding his tea, one hand cupping under it for support.

"Oh..."

"You are from Japan," he stated, rather than asked.

"Y-yes..."

She heard the clip of ceramic hit wood as Genji set his cup back down on the table. Reaching behind his head, he unlatched something that sounded to Rin as if pressure was being released. His faceplate released from the rest of his helm with a click and he held it in his left hand as he reached for his tea once more. There was no response from Rin so he took a sip.

"Maa maa dayo," he said, tasting it. "Not too bad but, as you said, not like home."

Rin gasped lightly, "Anata..."

"After traveling so much, it's nice to see someone from one's homeland," he said, amused at her surprise, taking another draft of his tea.

"Well, it's certainly nice to hear," she replied, smiling.

Genji looked upon her then. He had noticed her many strands of graying hair when he first saw her at the top of the steps several months before. But her voice and face seemed to belie what that implied. He had occasionally seen her meditating or performing other duties around the monastery but didn't want to disturb her or her purpose there. He had his own troubles to address. But now, sitting across from her, he noticed them: Her eyes, large, with gray shadows moving within her irises. And then he knew. No wonder she didn't react to him. He didn't feel good about it, but he felt much more at ease because of it.

"Your tea will get cold," he said, simply.

"Ah, thank you," she replied, pulling out of her reverie. After taking a sip, she allowed the warmth to spread and seep into her limbs before continuing. "There are so many questions I have for you. I have been out of the world for a while."

"The world is as it has always been," he said. "Believe me, you're better off here."

"Are you always so mysterious?" she asked, remembering the first time she had met him.

He grunted lightly, "I don't mean to be. I suppose, right now, I feel I am not at a place to say anything with much conviction."

"There must be some things you are certain of, at least for yourself," she responded, taking in more of her tea.

"I feel I am much like this empty vessel," he said, draining the last bit of his first cup, "waiting to be filled."

Rin put her cup down and reached for the pot. Once she heard him set his cup down, she poured him another perfect amount without spilling a drop.

"Amazing," he said.

"Tell that to the monks when I miss a few leaves in the courtyard while sweeping," she said, picking up her tea again. "I used to miss piles of them that I had made myself so I think I've vastly improved, if you ask me!"

"I am sure that is so," he replied, feeling even more relaxed.

Rin took another sip and felt more alive by the minute. As much as she greatly appreciated and respected her teachers and peers at the monastery, there was always something missing in their interaction. She could never put her finger on it but whatever that unknown was, it seemed to be present at this moment.

"Thank you for talking with me,...Oh! I never asked your name, I'm sorry..."

"I'm afraid I haven't offered the same courtesy," he said, putting his cup down and bowing his head. "Hajimemashite, Shimada Genji desu. Yoroshiku..."

The next thing Rin heard was the sound of her tea cup cracking as it hit the edge of the table.


	9. Chapter 9

Ch 9: Duty Part 3

Rin wasn't certain which sensation came first: the burning tea seeping through to her lap or Genji's loud, urgent summoning. But she knew which one hurt.

When, in her sudden alarm, she started grabbing at the fabric to lift it from further contacting her skin, Genji ran to the kitchen. He soaked a towel in a basin drawn with cold water and ran back to Rin, pressing it into her panicky hands. She immediately held it against her lap and visibly calmed down.

Genji knelt down beside her, facing her, waiting-knowing the awkwardness surrounding the moment would first need to be dispelled. Though she couldn't see with her eyes, Genji rightly determined her to be more dexterous than most. She wasn't the type to just mishandle something as mundane as a tea cup. It was obvious to him that the mention of his name, his family's name, was what rattled her so completely. He knew that, should he reveal his true name to anyone, there would be chance that they'd recognize it. After all, the Shimada Empire had been far-reaching and even international in scope. So the chances were even higher that she, a native, would recognize it. But the time he had spent with Tekhartha these past several months convinced him that he needed to begin accepting who he was if he was going to move forward into accepting who he is. Why not start that step with someone he had a connection with, tenuous as it was.

As the pain dulled, all Rin could think about was the name echoing in her ears. _Shimada_. Somehow, a part of her heart had made it back to her, found her again, albeit in the form of his brother. She felt as if she already knew Genji well. Hanzo had talked to her about him at length. Every time they met at the ravine, he told her stories of their training, their hardships, their friendly rivalry, and, as they got older, a budding conflict between them that Hanzo found unsettling. But through it all, there was no doubt about his care and worry for his younger brother. It was obvious in his tone and his concern about Genji's future. Over the course of time and through Hanzo, she felt toward Genji as if he were her own little brother.

And here he had been, right under her nose, for months! So much time lost where she could have talked with him. Where would she begin now? But then a small passing dart penetrated her tumbling thoughts. When he had given her the cold towel, his hand had brushed hers. They felt smooth and cold...artificial...

They had been quiet for some time while Genji waited for her reach calm. He noticed in her a change in demeanor as she came back to herself from her initial shock and resulting tea fiasco.

"Are you all right? Would you like me to help you to your room so you can change?" he asked, not wanting her to be embarrassed.

"No, I'm fine!" she replied a bit too emphatically, waving him off. She was excited and anxious and she did not want to lose a minute more just because her clothes were wet. They were the least of her concerns at the moment.

"Eh? But your pants..."

"It's nothing, I can bear it..."

"It looks really uncomfortable, though..."

"No, you don't understand..."

"It's sopping all the way through to the mat now..."

"Genji-kun, listen to me!"

That stopped him. The familiarity with which she spoke his name would normally be strange, even rude. But, for some reason, coming out of her mouth...

"Do I know you? he asked cautiously, his voice low.

"You have no reason to know me, but I know you. My name is Yukimura Rin...of the Yukimura Clan," she replied, somberly.

And now it was Genji's turn to be rattled.

Memories flashed through his mind like snapshots. Growing up, he had known of the Yukimura Clan as he did all other prominent families in the region. He didn't have much of a choice as he was schooled in the family business whether he liked it or not. He knew his brother was betrothed to a Yukimura daughter but that fell apart when, as Hanzo had later conveyed to him, the patriarch had come calling to their house to inform them that his daughter had passed away from an illness. There were no other Yukimura youth as far as he knew. There were no more Yukimura.

Then his memory jumped to a conversation with his brother, late at night, when they were both drunk on saké. He had questioned Hanzo's disappearances from time to time. Genji had noticed of course but never said anything to the family, trusting his brother had his reasons. When he finally asked him about where he was going off to every few months, he was surprised to find that it was because of a girl. Genji was delighted to learn this about his older brother. It made him a little more accessible, a little more...human. Hanzo was so rigid and formal in his dutifulness that Genji worried his brother would never be able to enjoy the things he should. He never seemed to take much pleasure from his surroundings, or the finest of foods that was prepared for him, or the beautiful women who would scramble to warm his bed. All he focused on was work. As glad as Genji was not to have been first-born, he knew his older brother was more than up to the task so he didn't envy him at all, no matter the power or prominence the leader of the Shimada was to be given. To Genji, it was a burden to bear, not just a mantle to be worn, and he wanted no part of it.

So when Hanzo told him about this girl, Genji lapped up all the information he could. What kind of person was able to capture the heart of his serious brother that he would lay down his charge for hours at a time and just allow himself to be free of it? At first, Hanzo was not so forthcoming but, after the initial disclosure, Genji was able to charm some answers out of him. The saké helped. It was a rarity for him to see his older brother talk of delicate things and delicate feelings. And, Genji was sure that he caught him smile every now and then when this topic would arise. During times like these, he truly felt that he and Hanzo were not too different. That is, until the light of the following day would again illuminate their separate positions in this world and the events of the previous evening would be chased away like the morning mist.

Hanzo would mostly describe how he felt when he was with her. Free to be himself; to express the things he wanted to accomplish that may or may not have anything to do with the family, free to have his own dreams and ambitions. He felt accepted. Honest. Open. Unburdened. It came to the point where Genji felt thankful for her for she seemed to be the only person to be able to provide his brother with any relief. Hanzo only mentioned her first name due to some family obligation and the only physical thing he revealed about her, almost in passing, now that Genji thought about it, was that she was...

... _blind!_

"Rin o-nee-san?" he asked, incredulously, eyes wide in disbelief.

It was too much for her to bear, to hear him refer to her that way. It would have to mean so many things. _Oh, Hanzo-kun..._

"Yes," she managed to say as her eyes began to overflow and the tears fell from their sheer weight. She reached out for him. It was impulse. She wanted touch his face and be near him; the one she had grown to love because Hanzo himself did. But before her hands found purchase, he grabbed her wrists. She felt it again, that cold smoothness, this time locked around her wrists with an inhuman grip.

"You mustn't," he said, evenly, quickly relaxing his hold.

"What has happened to you?" Rin asked, knowing the answer would not be simple. She let her hands fall to her cooling lap.

"I don't know that you are ready to hear this story," he answered. "And I don't know that I'm ready to tell it."

"Then please tell me this: Where is your brother? Where is Hanzo-kun?" she pleaded.

"The last memory I have of my brother...is him looking down at me as I was dying."


	10. Chapter 10: Confrontation

Ch 10: Confrontation

"As you can imagine, I could find no words. I could only listen to him unwind the spool slowly," admitted Rin.

Hanzo nodded in understanding.

"He didn't remember many details of that moment when everything changed for both of you. He has clear memories of his life up until then with you at your home, and then of course, what happened afterwards," she explained. Aside from that, he only remembers what he felt at that time: indignation, confusion, anger..."

"Betrayal," Hanzo finished for her.

"Yes, betrayal," she conceded. She could physically feel him wince at that in the way his grip slightly tightened around her hand for a moment. "That night...is something for which you will have to fill in the blanks because he cannot."

It had been years since Hanzo voluntarily thought about the events of that night. For months immediately after, it always came unbidden and he re-lived it every day. When he tried to sleep, it became projected behind his eyelids like some movie that wouldn't stop playing. Over the years, he became more adept at tucking it away under the folds of other purposes such as training and further honing his skills. The more he layered on top of it, the less likely it would see the light of day. And now Rin was asking him to dig through and look at it once more; to tear away at himself.

"You don't have to live with these pieces of yourself that you hate. There is a wholeness you can now have but I just need you to help me put it all together," she appealed as she turned to him, holding his hand in both of hers. " I'm here...and I won't ever leave your side again."

"Sit with me," he said, earnestly.

They both lowered themselves onto the porch. It was utterly dark now as the moon had left its zenith and was slowly preparing to hide beyond the horizon.

Hanzo let out a long breath. "It was a night much like this one. Genji was training in the Great Hall. I had just finished meeting with the Clan elders. Up until that night, their words were nothing new. For years they grumbled the same things to my father who always turned a deaf ear. It created much turmoil between him and our extended family who believed that Genji was becoming more problematic as the years passed. I tried to talk with Genji even while we were younger. He missed clan meetings, dealings, and delegation of responsibility. Things that he should have taken care of either fell through or were given to others who already had other obligations. But still, my father would not press him. I don't know whether it was because he knew it would be of no use or if he believed that I would be a better agent of change."

"That final meeting," he continued "...it had only been a few days after we interred our father in our family's grounds. Genji was silent during the funeral and after it was over, he immediately went to the Great Hall to train. I supposed that was how he was coping. I, on the other hand, had to prepare to finally take on my role fully. And in that meeting a few days after my father's passing, I was tasked to bring Genji back into the fold or to...'pare' him from the family."

"Pare?" Rin asked.

"That is the word they used," he replied. "Now that our father had died, we would be most vulnerable during the passing down of power. If I didn't take care of this on-going issue now, it would be used to topple us and everything our father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had worked to create. They likened Genji to a rotting branch. My brother. Make him a growing part of the tree or pare him down, they said. And if it was to be the latter, it should be done within the family. Should some other clan do it, they would be seen in a position of strength. This was the first thing I was to do as the new leader of the Shimada Empire; to guarantee that our future would be cemented and unquestioned. For all the preparation I had undergone since childhood, I never thought this would be my first act as my father's successor."

"Hanzo-kun..." was all Rin could manage to say. The weight of his father's legacy, his family's expectations, and the dependence of the Clans loyal to him was a burden she could not imagine. And yet, he bore it that night. He bore it and laid it down at the feet of his brother, hoping he would share in it and help him.

"I went to him in the Great Hall. He was wearing his street clothes and practicing with his shuriken. I remember thinking he was getting better at it than I was; he rarely missed. He knew where I had been just before and he asked about it first. I tried to reason with him. The only way it was going to work was if he came to it willingly. Forcing him would be the same as him not doing it at all. Forcing Genji to do anything was not something that was done. My father understood this better than I. Where I was nurtured without having a choice in my direction, Genji had too much."

"He did not want to take part in our enterprises...he just wanted to live as member of the Shimada family and make his own way. But his mistake was in believing that the two could be exclusive. It was our birthright and our curse. When our father passed, I felt the full bearing of his legacy and, as prepared as I was, I realized I did not want to do it alone. I wanted my brother with me. So when he continued to refuse, it was as if he were not only rejecting our father's life but also my own. The first task that was given to me by the elders and the hopes laid onto to me by my father...I felt I was failing them all. I became increasingly angry. We were both unmovable forces, clashing. Though, at that time, I believed he could be moved. And moved him I did..."

Rin placed one hand upon his shoulder and gently squeezed, encouraging him to continue.

"I grabbed his shirtfront and pulled him to me; I accused him of dishonoring our family. He scoffed at that, saying our business should not be considered "honorable." It was not my place to question it but his continued denial of our family only enraged me. As you are well aware, I can be demanding, and it was on great display that night. It only served to push him farther away from my intentions and, in turn, my accusations and obstinacy made him angry as well. When I had grabbed his shirt, he pushed me away into the wall. We fought like children at first: Shoving each other, throwing careless punches, wrestling each other to the ground for the upper hand. I don't remember who landed the first solid hit but it was enough to push us both over the line. It was then that I handled my katana from the stand. For his part, he regained his senses and told me to put down my sword. But I...I only saw my failure in Genji. And failure could not be borne."

"Though I carry my Storm Bow with me now, my first and best weapon was the sword. My first memory as a child was of carrying a boken in my hands. It was not only that I had an additional three years of experience with it than my brother, he was more of a well-rounded warrior. But the sword, it was an extension of me. He ran and grabbed his own katana from the mount and I charged him. I saw the fear in his eyes then. He knew I was not holding back. I carried the will of my father and generations of our family with me but he was only thinking of himself. This was what I had settled upon. This is what convinced me that I was doing right by our clan.

"Stop, Brother!" he had cried. I remember it distinctly. It was after my blade made contact with his upper arm. The cut was as deep as my rage, and blood poured on the mat. "Yield!" I demanded. He would not, was his reply. I charged him again and again. For his part, he was able to deliver some blows, but I felt no pain; it only made me feel justified. I swung at him so hard that our blades chipped when they met. By the end, it wasn't a single stroke that brought my brother down. I connected with him in vital areas of his body, his leg, torso, face, neck. The blood loss was too much and I had overpowered him easily. It was not until he fell face forward onto the mat and his katana rattled onto the floor that I came back to myself. When I ran to him and rolled him over, his eyes were no longer defiant and angry. They were those of my little brother, reaching out to me for help as he did so many times during our training or when he got his kite stuck in our trees. "Brother," he had cried out to me one last time. His eyes fluttered closed and I remember screaming like an animal. For what, I do not know. It would not take back what I had done. It would not bring him back to me. It was then that two of my uncles came out from the shadows. I realize now they were there from the start. They wanted to make sure I followed through with the charge given to me. In fulfilling it, I destroyed what mattered most. They took my brother away and told me I had done my duty. Whatever future remained for me, I knew it was no longer in Hanamura. I had to pare myself from the tree as well, for I was nothing but a broken branch. I left that night with nothing but my name."

Hanzo bowed his head. When Rin raised her hands to cup his face, she felt the remnant of tears that he'd been silently shedding while recounting his terrible tale. She inwardly gasped but recovered herself. _Remain strong, for him_. She dropped her sleeves to overlap her hands and used them to gingerly dry his face.

After a while, Hanzo's breathing became more even and he noted that the sky was starting to change color. The blackness began to give way to light and the horizon was outlined by violet.

"Did he...Did Genji tell you what happened to him afterwards?" he ventured to ask.

"Yes. And I'm afraid that side of it is no less painful as this one, " she replied, warily. "But you need to know, because it is what led your brother to be who he is today."

"I wish to know," he solemnly said.

Rin held his hand once again. She wasn't so much comforting him as she was preparing for the rawness that was to come.

"When your uncles took Genji away, they took him to the foothills nearby; to the pyre they had prepared. Your brother was still alive when they started the fire."


	11. Chapter 11

Ch 11: Confrontation Part 2

Rin's tears flowed freely. She had long since realized it was futile to try and stop them. Closing her eyes didn't seem to do anything but fan her tears out to fall down the planes of her face in broader tracks. Her one arm was crossed over her body, trying to still herself from all the shaking, the other hand was covering her mouth, trying to muffle the sounds of her wrenching sobs. She was failing at stopping either.

There was no reason for her to doubt Genji's words. But there was also no way for her to reconcile what had happened to him and who she knew his older brother to be. And at the intersection of that maelstrom was the turmoil she could only imagine Genji and Hanzo must have felt; the younger brother for how he had emerged, and the older brother for inciting it.

Between her body's uncontrollable reaction and the waves of nausea that came from the overwhelming news, she tried her best to listen to Genji. It was the least she could do for him, but her ears were filled with the pounding rush of her blood coursing through her veins. So she was all the more grateful that Zenyatta had showed up when he did.

When Rin had not come in for her afternoon lesson, he came looking for her. That's how Zenyatta had found them, sitting next to each other in the kitchen's ante-room. Rin's face was frozen in shock while Genji's was contorted in a cycling mix of pain, anger, and sadness. The respective energy emanating from them almost made Zenyatta wince as he was caught in the intense, rippling wake.

When he had noticed Zenyatta in the doorway, Genji quickly re-implemented his faceplate, trying to regain composure as best as possible. Still seated, he bowed towards Zenyatta. Rin was already bent over, though not so much out of respect as it was her feeling as if she got kicked in the gut.

"I fear this one has interrupted something that has been long overdue," Zenyatta had said, after observing a long silence.

"Teacher, did you know…?" she had asked, shakily.

"Did I know that you were somehow connected? Yes, my child, but not to the extent as your behavior seems to reveal," he gently replied. "May I…?"

Genji and Rin had nodded in consent and so Zenyatta entered, joining them in the room and in their pasts.

He told them that he had inquired after Genji months ago during a conversation with Tekhartha. Without going into anything privy to his counseling, the Great Teacher only gave Genji's name and where he had come from. It was the family name that had caught Zenyatta's attention as he had heard it spoken of by Rin during their many discussions.

Having witnessed Genji's agitation and Rin's still on-going distress, Zenyatta had settled in the lotus position before them and began to chant. Soon, his body rose above the floor and, as he levitated, he had started grasping the first three hand seals of the Kuji-in, stopping on the fourth that Genji had recognized as the one called SHA. Light emanated from within Zenyatta that quickly enveloped the two sitting before him. Taking his cue rather naturally, both Genji and Rin grasped the SHA hand seal as well.

Just as it had formed, the light dissipated, and a new sense of muted calm settled into the room. Rin's head stopped spinning and much of Genji's tension had been released. And so they found themselves in this state, with stories only half yet told and a disquieting uncertainty of where they would lead. Zenyatta slowly lowered himself back onto the floor, still seated, waiting for one of them to guide the steps that should follow.

Now that her world had stopped spinning so violently, at least for the moment, Rin turned to Genji who sat so quietly beside her.

"If you are willing, Genji-kun, I ask that you please tell me…tell us…what happened that night."

Zenyatta nodded. "This one is not here to bear judgment, but to lighten your burden for a while, if you so wish."

If Genji knew today was the day that his mouth would finally form the words accounting for his greatest grief and loss, he would not have entered the building. He had just wanted some tea. But something assured him that this had not all happened by chance. To have met Rin onee-san here in this remote place; to be reminded of the soul within the person who was the cause of Genji's greatest despair; and now to have felt the sudden blossom of light that took away so much of the strain…no, this could not have been a coincidence. That realization prodded him forward.

"To say that I highly respected my brother would be a mild thing," Genji began, "He was everything I was not and would not be. That was clearly a choice I made in my freedom, but I honored him because he did not have one himself. He did not bend under the crushing weight of the empire he would soon have to uphold alone. Every day, he seemed to become stronger in will and fortitude. There were times when he expressed that I show more share in it, but I was certain that he was only going through the motions for our elders, knowing that the direction of my heart and mind lay elsewhere. Though I did not agree with his position in the world, I looked up to him, I treasured him…I loved him above all else."

That last phrase; it made Rin's chest felt like it would cave at any moment. Had she not heard almost these same exact words leave Hanzo's mouth regarding Genji?

"What I remember of that night, they are nothing but flashes and moments. I remember feeling cold and numb, looking up at my brother. At the time, I did not know how I had arrived in that position. But as his eyes met mine, his face was contorted and in such despair. I had never seen my brother cry before, not even when our mother, and much later, our father died. I was very confused at first. But before I could ask him what was wrong, I felt this sensation that I can only describe as…shrinking away."

Zenyatta nodded.

"I did not want to shrink away. I began to fight against it. I called out to my brother to help me, to keep me from disappearing. But my body felt as if it could not contain my spirit any longer…"

Rin began to feel a great surge of force coming from Genji. She knew Zenyatta could too.

"The next thing I knew, I woke up to flames writhing around me. The heat was everywhere and everything. I tried to move but could not. Not knowing why I was not able to move, I looked down at myself. I was wrapped in cloth; swaddled, like a baby. And everything was on fire. Things came in steps: Seeing the flames, seeing myself, then feeling it. Even now, I cannot describe to you the feeling of fire as it ate away at me and being helpless to do anything about it. I called out for my brother again…"

Whether Genji knew it or not, he was clenching and unclenching his hands as they lay atop his bent knees.

Rin couldn't stop herself from covering her mouth again to keep from gasping in shock, her breaths taken in short staccatos.

"When my eyes opened again, I was surrounded by strangers and bright lights. They were speaking frantically. I no longer felt any pain but, somehow, I knew there would be a terrible price to pay for it. A pale and beautiful face bent over mine and spoke to me softly. Even though I was surrounded by chaos, her gentle voice cut through like a bell in the mist. 'I want to help you, but I need your help too,' she had said. She told me that only I could permit her this. And in exchange for making me whole, I would help her take down the people who did this to me. Why would I reject such an offer? But who had done this to me, I had asked her."

"It was then that four men took her place. They were dressed in uniforms and introduced themselves as agents of an organization called Overwatch. For years they had been assigned to me and watching over the Clans, waiting for an opportune time to strike at the criminal grip they had over my country. They were the ones who had intervened and saved me from the fire, taking down two of my own uncles and several guards to do so. I asked about my brother and that is when they told me what happened. I still have no memory of it myself. Just that look on my brother's face. The Great Hall was too heavily guarded to penetrate so they did not witness what had happened between us. But through their surveillance bots, they heard it all. Afterwards, they watched as Hanzo left the Hall, bloodied, then leave the compound completely. They said they sent a few men to trail him and the rest followed me as soon as they later realized I had been taken out of the Hall. As the agents descended upon my uncles and their guards, one of them was heard yelling to call for Hanzo, to come back and finish his duty."

Rin's tears again flowed. How had it come to all this? The Hanzo she knew, her Hanzo-kun, could not have been able to bear this. She wanted to believe, she prayed, that Genji, deep down, would know this as well. If there were any way that Rin could have taken away her sister's suffering, she would have done so in the blink of an eye. She was certain Hanzo would do the same for his brother. So how…

"What choice did I have?" he continued. "As before, I did not want to shrink away. Whatever was left of me would fight and fight to find the answers to the maddening questions that immediately came. I told them 'yes.' I told her 'yes,' my doctor. She saved me. She gave me a second chance to recover the life I had squandered; to make it mean something. It was as much creating as it was healing. I was fitted, adjusted, affixed, wired, attuned, connected, and fitted again. And, after a few short months, I was ready to take down an empire that took hundreds of years to build; an empire built upon the backs of my friends and family.


	12. Chapter 12

Unit 12: Realities

If this had been too much for her to handle back then, she could only imagine what Hanzo was feeling now. She stopped speaking.

During these hours, Hanzo had drawn his knees up to his chest; face buried in his hands, digging his fingers into his scalp like the gnarled roots of trees into the earth. Compared to his usually intimidating figure, to anyone looking at him now, he seemed so small as he collapsed upon himself. Rin placed her hand atop his shoulder and felt him shaking. She knew it had nothing to do with the chill of the encroaching morning. Even so, she rose to fetch the blanket that was surely on his bedding, yet unused. Draping it over his back and across his shoulders, she closed the blanket over the front of him.

"Oh, Genji...my brother..." he rasped out. "What have we done to you...what have ** _I_** done?"

"Your brother has suffered terribly. There is no minimizing that truth, no matter how hard we both might wish it," Rin stated, "but he doesn't live in that suffering as he used to. He had come to the temple, searching for a way out of that pain."

Hanzo spoke in such a stilted fashion that she wasn't sure whether he had heard her or not.

"How do I atone for this? How can I even ask to do so?" he said, as if in a trance. "I was to protect him. I should have protected him. Instead, I threw him to the wolves; bleeding, defenseless."

"That was their intention, I'm afraid. You were being used," she reasoned.

"No," he denied, shaking his head slowly. "I was no pawn. The choices I made were mine alone."

"You believed you were doing the right thing," she stated more than asked.

"Yes."

"Up until that very last moment."

"Yes."

"Have you wondered why?"

"...It was just...accepted."

"You were raised to be who they needed and wanted. Lucky for them you had all the capabilities they had hoped for as your father's successor. But even you had your doubts. I felt the conflict in you when we were but children. You used to tell me how you felt you were being pulled in separate directions..."

"Yes..."

"Then why did you choose..."

"I could not! I could not disobey them. I would rather have cut myself open than to disgrace my father!" he desperately exclaimed into the folds of his blanket.

"Then do you see-this choice you say you had-it was an impossible one. You had to decide between your honored father and beloved brother."

Hanzo was without words for quite some time. The morning light broke through the horizon, chasing away the last remnants of shadows and exposing the world anew. She allowed the silence to enfold them. Then she heard the terrible, heartbreaking sound of his muffled weeping.

Rin's chest ached with each of his pained exhalations and hitched breaths. Though she could not have known for certain, she rightly assumed this was the first time he had every truly allowed the memories to work into him, lashing and kneading him into a form he was unfamiliar with. Now that he knew the 'after' as well as the 'before' of his personal chaos, there was little he could do to keep the floodgates closed. He was defenseless.

Hanzo felt the rush of brisk air hit his chest and face as Rin opened the blanket edges that had been wrapped around him. She had sidled up and sat on her knees beside his body, facing him, and pulled him into her. The blanket offered artificial warmth well enough but he welcomed the radiating heat of her body against his, offering her support both physically and emotionally. Leaning into her, he bent his head down and rested his head on her shoulder. He couldn't remember the last time, if ever, he had allowed himself to rely on anyone else, but he found the sensation appealing. If his mind could not be still, perhaps his body could be, at least for a moment. He couldn't believe how much he had needed it until he surrendered himself presently.

And now, he realized that he didn't ever want to be without it.

Rin felt Hanzo's breathing even out and become less punctuated than before. She noticed that he didn't return her embrace; he sat with his hands in his lap but had relaxed heavily upon her frame. There was no rush necessary and she wished for him to grieve in his own time and his own way. No calling upon her skills for this-she wanted to brace and bolster him, but the root of his redress, she knew, should begin with his own strength first. The weight of him was welcome and she felt she'd never tire of it.

Slowly, she lifted her hands from encircling him and reached for his hair, which was still tied up, tight and sure. When she felt along his hairline and began to loosen the ribbon, she noticed his body bristled against her suddenly, though he didn't move from leaning on her. Rin rightly guessed that no one but he had ever laid hands on his hair nor head since he was a little boy. But the Hanzo she had known before, the Hanzo of her youth, had either worn his hair loose or tied low for she had often heard his locks brush atop his shoulders as he must have dipped and moved his head about during their conversations.

As expected, his hair fell heavily with its weight. Holding the loose ribbon in one hand, she used the other to brush it down, threading her fingers along his scalp, combing through the thickness. After a few moments, she felt him raise his head. Perhaps she overstepped, she thought to herself, then froze as she realized his face was only a breath away from hers.

"Rin…" he said softly, against her cheek.

How could her own name dismantle her so completely?

"I…I do not know what I should do…" he continued.

"About Genji…" Rin began.

"Yes, and about you, here, like this."

"If this is uncomfortable, then tell me…"

"I know what I want to do. I do not know if I should," he admitted, as he ventured in closer, lightly cupping her chin.

"What do you wa…" His mouth was on hers before she could finish. It was the lightest of pressure but also full of urgency. His hand moved from her chin and found its way to the nape of her neck, his thumb caressing her there. All the while, she had forgotten to breathe and, instead of taking it through her nose, she parted her lips to do so. And he parted his, pulling her in more fully.

He tasted of warmed honey…and of home. Though he hadn't lived in Hanamura for years, its balm still lingered about him. It was like returning to that enclosed ravine; back to the innocence of their youth and the hopes and desires they had withheld out of mutual respect. But now those youthful wishes were mingling on the same vine as their wholly ripened yearning, each cultivated without the other knowing.

Hanzo welcomed her sweet, responsive kiss, and he consumed it like a succor to his wounded soul. He had worried that she would think that's all this was; some sort of distraction from his grief. It's what made him hesitate. He knew there was no escape from the retribution that awaited him. But he would soon assure her that this was something he had longed to do; long before she had told him these terrible things, before she appeared last night, before he had become the monster he was now.

His mouth left hers briefly to nuzzle her cheek and chin, down to her neck, then back up to her lips. He leaned into her, his hand between her shoulder blades, gently leading and laying her down on her back as he himself went on his knees, leaning over her. Brushing a strand of hair aside from her face, he stopped and looked at her as she opened her eyes at his ministrations. Her cheeks and nose were flushed and dusted with pink, her half-lidded eyes beckoning him. Wordlessly, he moved to take her again.

Suddenly, with a sharp intake of air, her once languid eyes flew wide open; her attention wholly given over his right shoulder.

And then he heard it – the unmistakable whir of shuriken cutting through the air towards them.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Setting Out

Incandescence, almost blinding, enveloped them; so much so he had to close his eyes to it briefly. In the almost simultaneous seconds following the sound, Rin muttering under her breath, the light, and the distinct thud of three pieces of metal hitting the deck, Hanzo lifted her up and dove back into the room with her. Disengaging from his hold on Rin, he closed the shoji doors as she rolled away towards the back of the room. He picked up the sonic arrow which had still been stuck in the floor and immediately grabbed his bow and another arrow from his quiver, already knocking one in place and moving to where she was. He set himself and his aim toward the doors.

"Are you all right?" he asked, quickly, without turning to her.

"Yes," she whispered, though she wasn't sure why. It wasn't as if their attacker didn't know where they were. She crouched on one knee, hands steady on the floor on either side of her. He pulled her in closer to him so they wouldn't be at an angle to the doors where projectiles could easily reach them.

They had to rely on all their senses now, being cornered and at a disadvantage. Rin was doing her best to find her center, but she could tell Hanzo was already there. Having been trained since he was able to walk and seasoned in real battles all of his life, this was second nature to him. She began to concentrate; to find any remnants of ki left by their attacker to help her locate him. What she felt outside was a fiery energy, ablaze with anger and hate. It was pulsating and radiating out, like concentric waves beating upon their shore. Even if she tried, she wouldn't have been able to miss it, distracted as she was. Then she felt it separate.

She reached her hand out, finding his waist. "There are two," she quietly rasped.

In one smooth arc, Hanzo put down his sonic arrow and readied a different one. Apparently, he wouldn't need the former with Rin nearby.

It was a bold move, to attack when light out. Perhaps their attackers thought it would catch him off guard, especially with him being distracted. Rin decided then and there that she would not be the reason for such a thing to happen again. She would have to be more vigilant than ever, for both of them.

Rin tapped Hanzo on the waist again. In his periphery, he could see she was starting to gesture with both hands at two points beyond the room, slowly widening the breadth of her arms. Their attackers were separating, most likely in hopes to attack them on two fronts.

Hanzo thought quickly. He was sure he could get one with a scatter arrow, but due to the angle and architecture of the building, he couldn't be certain that he'd be able to ricochet it to hit both of them- especially now that the attackers were on either side of the room. They were no doubt banking on him to focus on one while the other attacked from the flank. Distraction and deception was their game. Before he had shut the shoji doors, he was able to quickly glimpse the shuriken that had fallen on the deck a few feet away. Four small, distinct diamonds arranged in a larger diamond shape was plainly embossed in the center of each. Takeda. Their family emblem. They weren't even trying to hide their identity. Likely they wanted him to know just who had come for him.

The only advantage Hanzo could now assume was they would not be aware that Rin could ascertain their number and general location. He would have to take one down and immediately turn to the oncoming attack from the baths to left. More than likely, this would turn into a melee attack being in such close quarters. He was confident he could handle the situation but, this time, there was an added factor: Rin. He had to make sure she came to no harm. The last thing he wanted to imagine was Rin getting injured or bodily threatened in order to get to him. He would have to get her out of the room after dispatching the first adversary before taking on the second. For all the other unknowns of this skirmish, Hanzo was glad that he had control over at least one thing: When to start it. He motioned for her to move behind him, which she did. He pulled back his arrow, readying to let it fly.

Rin had no real point reference or bearing as to what she should do. She had trained for years but her opponents were always other omnics Monks, and, only recently, Genji. They never truly meant any harm to her; she got some bruises and scratches along the way. But it was always just practice with no real sense of impending doom...unlike now. She trusted in Hanzo, implicitly. And she would have to find a way to trust in the years of guidance from her teacher so that she didn't get in the way or, Spirits forbid, cause Hanzo any harm because of her negligence or inexperience. She couldn't allow that to come to pass. She slid behind him, touching his waist once more for placement. The way he body was positioned, she knew he was poised to attack the opponent just o their right, outside the paper doors. So she stayed her attention to the attacker on the left, whose fiery energy was either getting closer or more intense.

Hanzo took a deep, silent breath. It was starting. She felt his arm pull back and the arrow release just as he released his breath. Rin heard the arrow's point pierce the top corner of the farthest shoji door with a soft 'pop' and hit the large tree outside. She heard the ping of Hanzo's arrows, several pings in fact, and wondered how that worked. She truly hoped to get a chance to ask about that later. Then she heard a grunt and a thud. The arrow must have found purchase. Her guess was confirmed by the attacker's energy suddenly turning into a subdued blue, diminished but not extinguished. The rest played out in such a way that it was as if their bodies were swimming through a room full of clear molasses; fluid and slow.

Then she saw it, with her mind's eye-the fiery aura of the second attacker was leaping directly at her just as she heard Hanzo let loose another arrow but seemingly in another direction. He couldn't be so off the mark. Was there someone else that she had somehow missed?

"Kageboshi!" cried Hanzo in disgust, more to himself than anyone. It was a well-executed decoy. His arrow had shot directly into the center of the dark figure that had come at him and pinned it against the adjacent wall as if it weighed nothing. He'd realized it as soon as he let the arrow fly. But it was too late. The decoy had worked; it had bought enough time for the flesh and blood assassin to already be at Rin's throat. His heart rose to this throat.

"Tora no tsume wo hakai!" Rin shrieked. To Hanzo's shock, from within Rin, a giant spectral tiger, golden in hue, surged forward. Its maw wide open as if in mid-roar, the menacing front claws were splayed out and extended almost impossibly far. The beast engulfed the hooded assassin and, for a second, stilled him in place. When the tiger dissipated, he fell where he stood, unconscious.

Hanzo stared unblinkingly at the fallen body then turned to look at Rin. Her eyes began to roll back and her body started to go limp as if she had no bones to hold her together. He caught her before she hit the floor.

"Rin! RIN!" he shouted, as he lowered her slowly to the mat. He checked. She was breathing.

"SHIMADAAAA!" It was an ugly, gruesome cry from outside the doors. It could only be from the first assassin. Hanzo knew he was hit and most likely immobile, but he approached the shoji carefully and to the side of the frame. When he opened it, he saw a familiar face, eyes staring directly at him, piercing and full of wrath. He was on his back and gripping his side, out from which two splintered arrows were protruding.

"Hayato," said Hanzo, calmly.

"Where's my sister?!" shouted, Hayato, writhing on the ground, "What have you done with her?!"

"Your sis—?" Hanzo began, then immediately turned to the other assassin on the floor near Rin. He approached the body quickly and took off the hood and mask. "Emi…" he whispered. She was alive, but her pulse was faint. The last time he had seen Emi Takeda, she was dressed in fine regalia and being presented to him and his father in the Grand Hall in Hanamura. Their clans had always had a strong rivalry but it was ultimately decided that marrying the two would bring more stability and wealth to their empire. Or so Hanzo was told through his father's advisors. And that day would have been only a few days after he had walked out and left Shimada castle. Hanzo stood up and quickly stepped into and tied his hakama, then wrapped Rin in his kimono, lifting her up over his shoulders. She groaned.

"You shameless coward!" shouted Hayato through gritted teeth. "Are you going to run away again?!"

"Your sister lives. And you will survive to face me again. But not today," Hanzo declared, pointing his storm bow at Hayato. He turned away and climbed up the small incline leading into the woods behind the temple, being careful not to jar Rin as he carried her.

"Do you even know what you had done?! Everything was destroyed because of you! Our families, our futures…our lives!" Hayato continued to shout, even as Hanzo's figure disappeared over the slope. "So why should my eyes have to see you trying to find happiness with some common whore? My sister was too good for you even then! You are cursed, Hanzo Shimada! Even in death, it will follow you!"

He heard it all. The chill morning mist carried Hayato's voice between the spaces of the trees and the branches themselves seemed to relay the message.

"Hanzo-kun?" Rin croaked.

He quickly let her down.

"Can you stand?" he asked.

"I'll try."

Hanzo helped steady her as she held on to him for balance.

"What happened? Where are we?"

"I was hoping you could tell me what happened," he replied. As for where, we will have to find another haven. That temple is no longer safe."

"I…I think I know where we should go. It will take some time but it seems we should keep moving anyway," Rin said as she looked up at him, knowingly.

It didn't take Hanzo long to understand what she was trying to say.

"I am not ready to face him," he said, after a long moment.

"There may never be a right time. But as you can see, no matter what we do, whether we are prepared or not, our past will sometimes chase after us," she countered.

Hanzo didn't reply. He looked off into the adjacent hills for a few moments.

"Perhaps Hayato is right; I should stop running," he finally said, looking west.

Rin looked at him quizzically. Taking her hand in his, they began to walk and make plans for their journey.


End file.
